If adjusting to the rigours of military life isn’t difficult enough for the bookish young man, he also has to contend with the disgust of his colleagues when, because of his imperial connections, he is appointed a rank above them. As second-in-command to Macro, the fearless, battle-scarred centurion who leads them, Cato will have more to prove than most in the adventures that lie ahead. Then the men discover that the army’s next campaign will take them to a land of unparalleled barbarity - Britain. After the long march west, Cato and Macro undertake a special mission that will thrust them headlong into a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Emperor himself...

    Now, the old world crumbles.  Pirates roam the seas, bandits threaten the highways, and barbarian refugees land at Britannia's shores, uninvited. The rich profit from the chaos, while the poor suffer. A new Dark Age is approaching - but all is not lost.Ash is a Seaborn, a Saxon child found on the beach with nothing but a precious stone at his neck and a memory of a distant war from which his people have fled. Raised on the estate of a Briton nobleman, trained in warfare and ancient knowledge, he soon becomes embroiled in the machinations and intrigues at the court of Wortigern, the Dux of Londinium, a struggle that is about to determine the future of all Britannia. A child of Saxon blood, an heir to Roman family, his is a destiny like no other: to join the two races and forge a new world from the ruins of the old.The Saxon Spears is the first volume of the Song of Ash saga, perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell's "The Last Kingdom" series, Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggulden.

    His story was buried with him and written by his enemies. Now his entire saga is revealed in a compelling trilogy by Brook Allen.After young Marcus Antonius's father dies in disgrace, he yearns to restore his family's honor during the final days of Rome's dying Republic. Marcus is rugged, handsome, and owns abundant military talent, but upon entering manhood, he falls prey to the excesses of a violent society. His whoring, gambling, and drinking eventually reap dire consequences. Through a series of personal tragedies, Marcus must come into his own through blood, blades, and death. Once he finally earns a military commission, he faces an uphill battle to earn the respect and admiration of soldiers, proconsuls, and kings. Desperate to redeem his name and carve a legacy for himself, he refuses to let warring rebels, scheming politicians, or even an alluring young Egyptian princess stand in his way.

    But by the time it was joined by Centurion Justinius Corvus, it had clearly fallen on hard times.Smarting from the sting of his recent demotion, and a transfer to Britain, a land he despises, Justinius nevertheless works hard to bring to his men some of the same pride he feels as a Roman soldier.As their bond grows strong, with each other and with the occupied land, their skill in combat is tested to its limits against the forces of Vortrix, High King of the Britons. As the battle lines muster, the fate of an Army, and of a nation, will be decided...The Legions of the Mist is an earth-shattering tale of loyalty, love and war, perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow, Conn Iggulden and Ben Kane.

    A commander on both land and sea, he led his armies to victory after victory.But like the heroes in a great Greek tragedy, he was a victim of his own pride, arrogance, excess, and ambition. Accused of crimes against the state, he was banished from his beloved Athens, only to take up arms in the service of his former enemies.For nearly three decades, Greece burned with war and Alcibiades helped bring victories to both sides — and ended up trusted by neither.Narrated from death row by Alcibiades’ bodyguard and assassin, a man whose own love and loathing for his former commander mirrors the mixed emotions felt by all Athens, Tides of War tells an epic saga of an extraordinary century, a war that changed history, and a complex leader who seduced a nation.

    THE WESTERN FRONT IS IN STALEMATE. Captain Malcolm MacPhail of the Canadian Corps has been in the trenches for longer than he cares to remember. He’s just landed a new job on the intelligence staff, but if he thinks staying alive is going to become any easier, he’s sorely mistaken.The rain is pelting down, the shells are flying and the dreaded battle for Passchendaele looms. Malcolm reckons matters can still get worse. Which proves to be an accurate assessment, especially as his unruly tongue has a habit of making enemies all on its own.The Allies are fighting desperately to swing the tide of war, and Malcolm’s future hangs in the balance, so keeping his head down is simply not an option… Authentic and gripping military historical fiction. Praise for MALCOLM MACPHAIL'S GREAT WAR: "Darrell Duthie skilfully blends history and fiction... He brings his invented hero, Malcolm MacPhail, into conjunction with real characters, to inform and stimulate readers... Malcolm MacPhail's Great War is realistic and often gripping... deserves a Mentioned-in-Despatches at least!" -- Dr. Peter Stanley, professor, former principal historian of the Australian War Memorial, author"The concept of trench warfare... is a prominent theme in this very readable work of 'faction'... The friction between HQ politics and the front line resonates throughout this tale. All in all, it is an enjoyable read."-- Soldier Magazine (magazine of the British Army)

    When Rufus' growing reputation as an animal trainer and his friendship with Cupido, one of Rome's greatest gladiators, attract the cruel gaze of the Emperor, Rufus is bought from his master and taken to the imperial palace as the keeper of the imperial elephant. Rufus soon sees that life here is dictated by Caligula’s ever shifting moods—he is as generous as he is cruel and he is a megalomaniac who declares himself a living god who simultaneously lives in constant fear of the plots against his life. Caligula's paranoia is not misplaced, and Rufus and Cupido find themselves unwittingly placed at the center of a conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor.

    'Wonderfully imaginative' Bernard Cornwell, author of The Last Kingdom. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Bernard Cornwell.James Keane - card sharp and ladies' man - is one of the finest soldiers of Wellington's army. Keane - hot-tempered, a maverick, never quite accepted by his fellow officers - is in trouble for killing his man in a duel: an activity forbidden by Wellington. To avoid court martial, he takes on an unwelcome assignment: to form an ill-assorted bunch of reprobates into an elite unit capable of operating behind the lines. A nineteenth-century Dirty Dozen.

    Sent to Wales to capture the gold mines, Paulinus faces the fury of Queen Boudicca's tribes, all united against Nero's corrupt officials. It's a tale packed with fascinating detail of life in Roman Britain and in the Legions in particular.

     One of history’s greatest mysteries, the Ninth Imperial Legion guarding Rome’s northernmost frontier in Britannia disappeared around the year 122 AD. This is their story. Badly outnumbered, facing certain destruction, and cut off from supply, the Imperial Roman Ninth Legion Hispana is in a desperate position. Surrounded by the hostile Celtic army, Senior Centurion Lucious Grackus Lisidus Karus must lead his men to safety after unexpectedly finding himself thrust into command of the legion. Then the unthinkable happens. Karus and the Ninth are transported to a strange place, far away from the Britannia they knew. The legion’s deliverance from danger at first appears to be a blessing from the gods, but slowly they begin to uncover the secrets of this new land, a world that is slowly being overrun by a terrible evil. A young woman is discovered in a dungeon, where she has been abandoned and left to starve. Inextricably linked with Karus’ own destiny, she may be the key to salvation, or worse, the instrument of destruction for the Ninth. Cast adrift in a terrible war, Karus must find his way through the mysteries of this unfamiliar world, one that is filled with true magic, strange alien races, evil gods, and dragons. More importantly, Karus must discover his destiny, and complete a desperate task set for him by a god of Rome. Should he fail, it will mean certain destruction for the Ninth, the triumph of evil, and the rise of a new order. Lost Legio IX is the first book in this exciting series. ‘For these I set no bounds in space or time; but have given empire without end.’ —Jupiter, Virgil’s Aeneid.

     More than twenty assassins are directly involved. Hundreds of others are aware of the plot, with thousands more hoping for its success. Only a handful of men and women stand against them, led by the infamous Artemidorus. He and his associates are working undercover in the households of the main suspects, risking kidnap, torture and death in a desperate race against both time and fate. They are hopelessly outnumbered, battling against the most dangerous men in the city, their servants, slaves and soldiers. The future of the world as they know it is in their hands. But the scheming senators will go to any lengths to stop anyone standing in the way of their plan. And with an army of bloodthirsty gladiators willing to carry out their orders, is Artemidorus destined to meet an equally brutal end? Set against the backdrop of Ancient Rome, The Ides is a fast-paced historical thriller, providing an insider perspective to the infamous Ides of March.

    The Kingdom of Jerusalem hanging by a thread. One Knight Justice must face his greatest fears or die trying… Brother Foulques de Villaret just wants to stay in Acre and perform his sworn duties. Instead, the young Hospitaller Knight of Saint John must undertake a dangerous journey from the Holy Land to a remote village nestled in the Alps, the ‘Spine of the World’. His mission: buy 500 peasant boys and return them to Acre to be trained as Soldiers of Christ. Pursued across the Mid-Earth Sea by slavers, Brother Foulques and his Army of Children are about to be thrust into a confrontation with the greatest warriors the East has ever known: the Mamluks. To survive, Brother Foulques must turn to risky alliances… and pray that his choices do not lead them all to destruction. Acre is the first book in the Hospitaller Saga, a series of breathtaking historical novels set in the late 13th century. If you like action-packed adventure and authentically rich fiction, then you’ll love J. K. Swift’s historically epic masterpiece.

    A lost soldier without a memory and now a brutal battle to win. For fans of Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden, a spectacular debut where honour and duty, legions and tribes clash in bloody, heart-breaking glory . . . AD 9. Fifteen thousand battle-hardened Roman legionaries strike deep into dense forest. Awaiting them are deadly, hostile Germanic tribes. In a clearing they find twelve massacred and strung-up legionaries.Is this a threat, or a warning?There is just one bloodied, broken survivor. He has no idea who he is. Only that he is a soldier.And now he must fight. As the legions are mercilessly cut down, the nameless soldier joins a small band of survivors trapped in the forest. If they fight together they have a slim chance of staying alive. But whose side is the soldier on? And is it the right one? 'Gives Rome's legionaries a contemporary voice - brutal, audacious and fast paced' Anthony Riches, author of Empire series'Historical fiction written by a real war veteran who knows all there is to know about blood and bonding in battle. An earthy and powerful read' Sport'Blood and guts, but also a clever exploration of the moral ambiguity of war and loyalty to a flag' Mail on Sunday

    His head filled with tales of chivalry, instead he is branded a thief, and must make do with being squire to his childhood friend Sir Robert, a knight determined to make a name for himself as a man at arms in France. While William himself slowly acquires the skills of knightly combat, he remains an outsider - until the Battle of Poitiers when Sir Robert is cut down by the greatest knight of the age, Sir Geoffry de Charny, and William, his lowly squire, revenges him. But with his own knight dead, no honour acrrues to William for this feat of arms, and he is forced to become a mercenary. Scavenging a mis-matched set of armour from the knightly corpses, he joins one of the mercenary companies now set to pillage a defenceless France, and so begins a bloody career that sees William joining forces with the infamous Sir John Hawkwood and immersing himself in a treacherous clandestine war among the Italian city states. But paradoxically it is there, among the spies, assassins and hired killers serving their ruthless masters, that William finally discovers the true meaning of chivalry - and his destiny as a knight.

    . . whom dreamers find always at the end of their dreams."-- Theophile Gautier, 1845Arrestingly beautiful and fiercely intelligent, Cleopatra VII of Egypt was barely more than a teenager when she inherited the richest empire in the world--one that stretched from the scorching deserts of lower Egypt to the shining Mediterranean metropolis of Alexandria, with its famed libraries, storehouses, and treasuries. Imperiled at every turn by court conspiracies and Roman treachery, the young queen was forced to flee Alexandria and live in exile while a foreign army overran her city and her own siblings plotted her downfall. With nothing to lose, Cleopatra brazenly sought a partnership with the only man who could secure Egypt's safety: Julius Caesar, a wily politician and battle-hardened general with a weakness for women. The result was a passionate love affair that scandalized Rome and thrust Cleopatra into the glittering but deadly world of imperial intrigue and warfare-- a world that she would mesmerize and manipulate even after Caesar was gone.At the height of her power and fame, Cleopatra fell in love with Caesar's protégé and successor, Marc Antony, a handsome general known as much for his drunken hedonism as for his victories in  battle. Brash, irresistible, and fatally unreliable, Antony's once-strong hold on the Roman Empire was slipping fast, and with it slipped Cleopatra's fortunes. When the tide had finally, irrevocably turned against her, the proud queen plotted a last, spectacular maneuver that was to save her children, her empire, and her place in the pantheon of gods. Colin Falconer's bold, sensuous prose takes the reader inside the walls of Alexandria's great palaces and into Cleopatra's very heart, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman who thrived and triumphed in a world ruled by men. This is the story of a legendary woman's most glorious time, a story that blazes through thousands of years of history to capture the imagination of readers today.From the Hardcover edition.